Athan Achonu, Labour Party governorship candidate for Imo, and scores of his supporters on Thursday stormed the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja to demand the true certified copy (CTC) of the just concluded poll in the state.

Achonu, who was accompanied by the National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, also accused the electoral umpire of playing a double standard in the November 11 off-cycle election.

The protest came two weeks after INEC declared Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress winner of the election.

The APC candidate polled 540,308 votes to beat Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party who scored 71,503 votes and Achonu who could only secure 64,081 votes.

However, the two opposition candidates rejected the result and declared that the election was marred by electoral irregularities.

The long procession, which saw the demonstrators chanting solidarity songs and displaying various banners that read “INEC Give Us Our CTC” “Respect Our Law” and “INEC Has Become Headache to Nigerian People” caused a mild gridlock.

Addressing newsmen in front of the INEC building, Achonu accused the commission of deliberately refusing to give him a copy of the Imo poll CTC because they had something to hide.

The LP candidate stated that unlike what transpired in Bayelsa where it took three days to round up the election process, INEC collated Imo ballots and hurriedly announced the result in two hours.

He said, “When collation started after the voting, our state election agent duly asked INEC not to announce any result that collation started very early that day even when voting was going on. They were even uploading results on iREV when voting was taking place. So how did that happen? They were told to go to their backend server and confirm the result they were about to announce. But INEC refused to do that. The returning insisted they should go on because they had a hidden agenda.

“Meanwhile it took Bayelsa which has just eight local governments almost three days to announce their result. But in Imo which has 27 local governments, it took them just two hours to announce the result that was already uploaded.

“So we duly wrote to INEC asking them to review the election. They hurriedly announced the result, even before the seven days allowed for review lapsed. Up till today when we are speaking, we have not received the certified copy of that result despite writing them officially. We will not leave here today until we collect the CTC since INEC has refused to come out and address us.”

While the demonstration was ongoing, two INEC national commissioners, Mohammed Haruna and Prof Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, came out to address the group.

While urging the protesters to exercise patience, Haruna promised them their grievance would be addressed by the commission in earnest.

“We understand you have come here with a petition. The national chairman (Prof Yakubu Mahmood) asked the two of us to come here on his behalf on behalf to receive your petition. And I assure you (it will be addressed because this is your right.

“The CTC you requested is always collected at the state level. So we have a copy of your letter here now, I assure you it will attended to,” he stated.

President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, congratulated the winners of the governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted off-cycle elections in the three states to elect governors last Saturday.

In Imo, Hope Uzodinma, won a re-election while Usman Ododo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the election to succeed Yahaya Bello, who is completing his two-term of eight years.

Also, Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won his re-election in Bayelsa.

In a statement on Monday, Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spspokesperson, quoted Tinubu as saying that the victory of the politicians  “reflect the people’s wishes”.

“May your tenure in office be defined by close collaboration with all of your counterparts across party lines in the attainment of pan-Nigerian developmental achievements that benefit everyone, and may you lead at all times with compassion and a deepened commitment to our nation’s unity,” the statement reads.

“The outcome of the elections reflects the wishes of the people, emphasizing that democracy thrives when voters reward competence, transparency, and good governance.”

Tinubu said the winners should position their states as hubs of peace, commerce, entrepreneurship, and prosperity in Nigeria, adding that they should prioritise the common good of the people over partisan interests.

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, on Monday, said the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Bola Tinubu’s victory in the election as the nation’s president is a breach of Nigerians’ trust in the judiciary arm.

The former Anambra governor said this in a world press conference held at the party’s National Headquarters in Abuja while responding to the Supreme Court verdict.

Recall that the Supreme Court has affirmed the decision of the tribunal on Obi and Atiku Abubakar’s appeals.

The apex court affirmed that other panel members agreed with the lead judgment delivered by John Okoro, dismissing Atiku Abubakar’s appeal and challenging the judgment of the presidential petition tribunal.

They also agreed with Okoro to reject the application of Atiku, seeking to present Tinubu’s credentials obtained from the CSU.

The other justices on the panel are Uwani Aji, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani, and Emmanuel Agim.

Saulawa said, “The application by Atiku is frivolous and vexatious and deserves to be dismissed. I find no merit in the appeal and dismiss, and I affirm the decision of the lower court.”

While responding to the verdict, Obi said, “Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a breach of confidence Nigerians have in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Nigerian citizens is drawn.”